This year’s Malvern Spring Festival saw sunshine, blooms and the freshest foliage mingle in the RHS’s opening celebration of the gardening season.

By Sorrel Everton

Published: Thursday, 11 May 2023 at 12:00 am

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Held at the peak of spring, the RHS Malvern Spring Festival offers visitors inspiration on planting, design and all things garden. We pick out some highlights.

Highlights of RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2023

Show garden Gold medals went to

The Wildlife Trusts: Wilder Spaces, designed by Jamie Langlands

Winner of Best in Show

A wilder aesthetic combines with design in Jamie Langlands’ garden (in conjunction with Future Nature WTC). Every element maximises a consideration for wildlife from the leaf-cutter bee towers incorporated in the struts of the pavilion, to the waste rubble used as a planting medium and also as ideal habitat for many insect species. Plants include nettles and native hawthorn alongside more-cultivated familiars such as the gorgeous, soft pink Papaver dubium subsp. lecoqii ‘Albiflorum’.

Be Positive, Bee Kind, Bee Aware, designed by Rick Ford and Katie Gentle

Three beehives are the key note to this family garden (sponsored by Bees for Development) filled with beautiful and useful plants that satisfy both pollinators and plot to plate flavours. There’s lots of upcycling of materials here and an extensive bug ‘library-style’ wall, to the back of the garden’s pavilion, to support biodiversity.

Other highlights of the show included

Crowning Glory

To mark the recent Coronation of King Charles III, floral expert Jonathan Moseley created a huge floral crown, using thousands of blooms, on display at the centre of the Marquee.

Firm favourites: Auriculas

Auricula expertise from newly awarded RHS Master Grower Hillview Hardy Plants.

Fantastic foliage

Epimedium acuminatum (yellow-flowered form)

It isn’t all flowers to highlight in spring. Epimediums stood out as offering fresh foliage interest with intriguing forms that deserved a closer look. We spotted Gardeners’ World presenter Nick Macer picking them out as one of his top Malvern finds – find out more from the programme’s round up of the show on Friday’s episode.

Turnips’ moment to shine?

Can we indeed grow to love them in our gardens and on our plates? Very attractive and tasty-looking turnips such as ‘Tokyo Cross’ and ‘Snowball’ were included in display by the National Vegetable Society.

A new eucalyptus

Suitable for growing in pots and recommended by expert growers Grafton Nursery as ‘Exciting new dwarf eucalyptus, useful as a small screening tree if pruned. Good in large patio pots. Can be kept as a small, busy shrub from 1.2m upwards. Short term 5m tall, can reach 10m if not pruned.’

Check out their website for a practical guide to growing eucalyptus.

Edimentals

Lots of kitchen garden plants are quite familiar but garlic cress is less well-known. Displayed by the Kitchen Garden Plant Centre, Peltaria aliacea has wonderful foliage infused in purple and small white umbellifer flowers. It can be added to the salad bowl for a dash of garlic/mustard flavours.

Find out more about edimentals.

Easy going pathways

Hoggin (self binding gravel), crush shells and recycled aggregates all being used for a looser-looking, more sustainable, yet still practical pathway solution, such as this pathway on the Bee Positive, Bee Kind, Bee Aware garden.

Sun-loving planting

From aeoniums large and small to vivacious echiums, there were lots of planting ideas for taking hotter and drier temperatures into account. This is Echium fastuosum, planted in The HomeAway Garden, designed by Emily Crowley-Wroe. Emily planted into beds of crushed pebbles, rocks and sand to ensure sharp drainage. Another feature plant in her Brittany-inspired garden was the architecturally striking Agave americana,

RHS Malvern Spring Festival runs from the 11 – 14 May 2023. Tickets can be purchased on the RHS website.

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